Kent State University announced the introduction of a new bike-sharing initiative called Flashfleet, which provides students, faculty and staff with a new free form of transportation and recreation throughout the campus.

The new operation began this fall, allowing students, faculty and staff to visit one of six designated locations on campus to sign out a bike using their FLASHcard, the official KSU campus ID.

Students are charged nothing for the rental, as fees are only assessed if equipment is returned late, damaged or not at all. Guests, with a valid driver’s license, are also allowed to participate in the program as long as a student or staff member assumes liability.

“The program is modeled after a similar second-generation program at Washington State University,” said Melanie Knowles, the university’s sustainability manager. “Washington State has now adopted a third-generation bike-sharing program, complete with self-contained, solar-powered kiosks that allow users to check-in and check-out bikes from any location.”

She added that Flashfleet is only a pilot program and its success and research collected will be used in determining whether a third-generation system, like the one at Washington State, will be installed on KSU campus.